Stormy Weather on the Mississippi

We enjoyed our stay at the Best Western on the River in Hannibal. The kids loved the pool downstairs and another hot breakfast was great. Blake had sausage and gravy for the first time and loved it. After breakfast we headed to the towns main attraction. The boyhood home of Mark Twain and museum. Walking through the various buildings were awesome. Although a bit boring for the children. There are quotes from various books and there is more information on his parents. One story in particular stands in my mind. Mark Twain talked about his mother in his autobiography and he told a story about a time when a man was chasing his daughter around town with a line of rope, telling her how he was going to be her with it. As they ran other men witnessed the event and did not step in. Mark Twain’s mother on the other hand, threw open her door and allowed the child to run in. She did not shut and lock the door behind her, but stood in the door way barring him from entering. I imagine that courage is what helped shape Mark Twain into the man that he was.
We toured Huck Finn’s boyhood home and it made me wonder where he ended up. Unfortunately, the kids didn’t find reading all the information interesting and I wasn’t able to read a lot of it either. What they did find interesting was the American Music room that was at the end of the museum. There they learned to play spoons and washboards. They probably heard their first sounds of jazz and Ryleigh danced to Pasty Cline. Now this is personal to me as Patsy Cline was my favorite singer as a child.
We left Hannibal after we had finished the tour and headed to St. Louis. We stopped for lunch at Pappy’s Smokehouse which has been rated the best BBQ in St. Louis. We got a full rack of ribs, a potato with pulled pork, beans, and cheese on it, and a Fritos pie with pulled pork, beans, and cheese. I will whole-heartedly agree that this is the best BBQ in St. Louis if not Mossuri. This apparently is the second stop on the boys college “road trip.” I guess they will be really hungry after hiking the Tetons.
After lunch we headed to the Saint Louis KOA which was actually in Granite City, IL. Joe and the kids spent the rest of the day in the pool. I unfortunately found that I had left my swimsuit at home. It was a very leisurely day until around 3 am that morning. We were woken with the tent shaking and lighting striking a few miles away. We got everyone in the truck. It took some time for Joe to get the tent folded up and away. After everything was packed we decided to head to IHOP. Unfortunately when we tried to start our car we found out that the battery was dead. We had drained the battery by charging a few things and then watching a movie while letting the air blow. So we called AAA and got a jump. Around 4:30 we headed to IHOP where the kids and I slept in the car for awhile. I am not sure if Joe slept at all but he did tell me around 6 that he would be drinking coffee inside and we should join him when we wake up. Can’t say it was the best night of sleep but I don’t remember every sleeping so well in a car.